Consumer prices in Argentina's six main regions jumped 3.8 percent month-over-month in February 2019, up from a 2.9 percent rise in the previous. Prices increased at a faster pace for food & beverages (5.7 percent compared to 3.4 percent in January), mainly explained by sharp rises in bread, meat, lettuce and apples; housing & utilities (6.4 percent compared to 3.1 percent); furnishings & household equipment (2.8 percent compared to 2.7 percent); health (3.2 percent compared to 2.9 percent) and education (1.7 percent compared to 0.6 percent). Also, cost of clothing & footwear rebounded (1.0 percent compared to -0.6 percent). In contrast, prices slowed for transport (2.2 percent compared to 2.5 percent) and communications (1.1 percent compared to 7.4 percent). Considering the great Buenos Aires only, inflation climbed to 3.8 percent from 2.8 percent. On an annual basis, consumer prices jumped by 51.3 percent (vs 49.3 percent in January), hitting the highest level since 1991. Inflation Rate Mom in Argentina averaged 2.24 percent from 2014 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 6.50 percent in April of 2016 and a record low of 0.20 percent in August of 2016.
Inflation Rate Mom in Argentina is expected to be 3.40 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Inflation Rate Mom in Argentina to stand at 2.70 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Argentina Inflation Rate MoM is projected to trend around 2.30 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.